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I'm skeptical about Tesla's future, but not because I doubt their product. The Roadster was an amazing, unique vehicle that wasn't priced so high it was unattai

by gamble 15y ago

I'm skeptical about Tesla's future, but not because I doubt their product. The Roadster was an amazing, unique vehicle that wasn't priced so high it was unattainable, at least to the moderately wealthy. There are plenty of Mercedes on the road that approach the Roadster's price. I'm skeptical because they weren't able to turn a profit on the Roadster. As far as I can tell, they sold each one for a loss and even then weren't able to produce enough to meet demand. I have no doubt that the sedan will be an amazing, unique vehicle, but Tesla still has to prove itself at the nuts-and-bolts of the auto business: manufacturing, retailing, and service.

anamax 15y ago
> As far as I can tell, they sold each one for a loss and even then weren't able to produce enough to meet demand. If you're selling at a loss, why would you want to meet demand?
- electromagnetic 15y ago
  Because mass production generally leads to decreased costs, which has the potential for profit from initial loss on sales.
  - redwood 15y ago
    In this case I think we need to view the sedan as the natural realization of that mass production (or next step)
  - jamesbkel 15y ago
    I was under the impression that the roadster was more about developing and perfecting the tech rather than immediately scaling up production. As redwood noted, the sedan is leading into the mass production phase.
  - anamax 15y ago
    > Because mass production generally leads to decreased costs, which has the potential for profit from initial loss on sales. Reread the original "As far as I can tell, they sold each one for a loss and even then weren't able to produce enough to meet demand." That assumes that they could have made and sold more but choose not to. Maybe that would have led to lower price and profit, but if it wasn't going to, selling more is a bad idea.
div 15y ago
I'm positive about Tesla's future. They had to do a big investment in technology that now seems to be paying of in 2 ways: - building a sedan that has mass market potential - selling tech to established car manufacturers: http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/20/tesla-toyota-100m-rav4-deal/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/20/tesla-toyota-100m-rav4-dea... It's a mini version of the Samsung model, and I can see it working well for them. edit: found a link that's not behind a paywall unless you have Google as a referrer.

by gamble 15y ago

anamax 15y ago

> As far as I can tell, they sold each one for a loss and even then weren't able to produce enough to meet demand. If you're selling at a loss, why would you want to meet demand?

electromagnetic 15y ago
Because mass production generally leads to decreased costs, which has the potential for profit from initial loss on sales.
- redwood 15y ago
  In this case I think we need to view the sedan as the natural realization of that mass production (or next step)
- jamesbkel 15y ago
  I was under the impression that the roadster was more about developing and perfecting the tech rather than immediately scaling up production. As redwood noted, the sedan is leading into the mass production phase.
- anamax 15y ago
  > Because mass production generally leads to decreased costs, which has the potential for profit from initial loss on sales. Reread the original "As far as I can tell, they sold each one for a loss and even then weren't able to produce enough to meet demand." That assumes that they could have made and sold more but choose not to. Maybe that would have led to lower price and profit, but if it wasn't going to, selling more is a bad idea.

div 15y ago

I'm positive about Tesla's future. They had to do a big investment in technology that now seems to be paying of in 2 ways: - building a sedan that has mass market potential - selling tech to established car manufacturers: http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/20/tesla-toyota-100m-rav4-deal/ http://venturebeat.com/2011/07/20/tesla-toyota-100m-rav4-dea... It's a mini version of the Samsung model, and I can see it working well for them. edit: found a link that's not behind a paywall unless you have Google as a referrer.